I am at my second year in ESL teaching at ULaval and am looking for some advice toward mentoring high school students. I think I have the knowledge to do it, although I do not feel that secure when it comes to build a small syllabus for a specific student in a specific grade. What can I do to make sure I am helping my students in order to make them succeed their year? There is a high chance I will give private mentoring to a few high school students during May and the beginning of June and I really want my students to succeed. Should I require them to bring me all their school material in English so I can adapt after quickly evaluating their level? How should I do it?

I would like to share my personal experience in private mentoring with you.

1. Define the final goal with the student. It helps to avoid frustration in case the goal is too ambitious and to plan the rhythm and the frequency of your mentoring.

2. Differ the short and the long term goals. It helps you to plan short term syllabus and long term syllabus.

2.a. When your student brings you all the school material he/she has, believe me, it won’t be difficult for you to write a short term syllabus. Look at the year program, plan the learning material so that the student should know which material goes in advance. You can also use Teacher’s Book in order to help you to get prepared for the monitoring. 2.b. However, you will see that it is not enough. You need to create a long time syllabus (because apparently the long term goal is to become a fluent English speaker). Test your student’s English level, trying to identify his/her problems in English. Write a plan and each time you help your student with the school task, you can go to the long term syllabus and help the student with his/her language problems (tense, modals, etc)

3. choose the most effective strategies. Ask your student about his/her effective way to learn new material. Some students are good in memorizing, others have great imagination, some have analytical mind and they need to understand completely the material, others easily memorize the material etc. Use your student’s strengths and personal interests in the teaching process.

And the most important thing – be confident, encourage your student, motivate him/her. I’m sure that you will be the best. Good luck!